Fruit-picker.



A. J. PBTEBTYL. FRUIT PIGKER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1910.

Patented Oct. 4,1910.

WITNESSES: 8? 6 M ANTHONY J. PETERTYL, OF TRAVERSE CITY, MICHIGAN.

FRUIT-PICKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 5, 1910.

Patented (lot. 1, 1916.

Serial No. 542,203.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY J. PETER- rYL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Traverse City, in the county of Grand Traverseand State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Fruit-Picker, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention is an improvement in fruit pickers, more especially forcherries, and belongs to that class of such devices as comprise areceptacle having clippers or shears arranged thereover for cutting olfthe fruit, the latter dropping into the receptacle as the stems aresevered.

The present invention has in view the operati on of the shears by thedepression of a lever with one of the fingers, or the thumb of the handby which the receptacle is held, the construction being such that thefruit can be reached at a considerable distance from the gatherer andhad in plain view as it is cut off. The receptacle is preferablyprovided with a releasable bottom so that the fruit can be convenientlydischarged.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in bothv views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fruit picker constructed inaccordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectionof the same.

A receptacle 5 for receiving the fruit, is in the nature of an uprightvessel of suitable capacity, having a flaring throat 65, extendingupwardly and outwardly from the top adjacent to the edge, with thebottom of the vessel hinged at one side, as indicated at 7, and engagedat the opposite side and held in closed position by a spring catch 8,the spring catch having a downwardly and outwardlyinclined thumbpieee 9at its end, by which the spring i s retracted, and serving as a cam bywhich the catch is automatically sprung outwardly when the bottom isforced to closed position, the outward movement of the spring catchbeing limited by a keeper 10, and the upper end of the catch riveted orotherwise rigidly secured to the side of the vessel. The vessel at theopposite side is provided. with a vertical handle 11, over which isarranged a thumb-lever 12, the latter being of bell-crank form andfulcrumed intermediate its length to a bracket 13, which, as shown, iscarried at the top of the vessel and has downwardly-extended cars at theside, between which the tlmmblcver is received. A support 1% is offsetto extend over the inner portion of the throat 6, and seats flat on thebracket 18, where it is longitudinally slotted and adjustably hold inplace by screws 15 threaded into the bracket. On the free end of thesupport are fulcrumed on a screw or pin 16, the cutting blades 17, 17,of a pair of shears, the shears being arranged at the top of thesupport, and the fulcrum screw or pin in addition to passing throughthem and the support, also passing through a washer or other suitabledevice 18 arranged under the head of the screw and affording asubstantial bearing. The blades 17 of the shears are crossed andslightly bell-crank in form, with the portions at the inner side of thepivot op eratively connected to the upright arm of the thumb-lever 12,by a fork of spring wire 19, the arms of the fork having a tendency tospread apart, whereby when the thumbpiece of the thumb-lever isdepressed to cause the blades of the shears to move together, as whensevering the fruit, the blades will be automatically swung apart whenthe thumblever is released. The spring yoke is preferably assembled withthe thumb-lever and the blades of the shears by providing each with anaperture at the point the connection is to be made, the fork beingpassed into this aperture of the lever and hooked at each end, as shownin Fig. 2, to engage in the apertures of the blades. The vertical arm ofthe thumb-lever may be provided with one or more of these apertures ifdesired, arranged at different distances from the fulcrum of the leverso that the leverage can be changed if desired. By means of theadjustment of the support 14L, the shears can be moved forward orrearward in their approximate horizontal position ovcr the throat.

In the use of the picker, the gatherer will ordinarily grasp the handleof the vessel with the fingers, with the thumb resting on thethumb-piece of the operating lever. In this way the vessel is easilypassed under the fruit and the shears operated to out it off and allowit to fall into the vessel. When the vessel is filled it is readilydischarged by releasing the hinged bottom, thus permitting a measuredquantity of fruit to fall out.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent.

1. A fruit picker comprising a receptacle having a handle, a fruitclipper carried by the receptacle and having pivotally-connected shearblades movable in a plane approxi mately transverse to and over thereceptacle in a position to permit of the fruit dropping into thereceptacle as it is cut off, and means to swing the blades of theclipper on their pivots each relatively to the other and to thereceptacle, carried by the receptacle with the said means arranged overthe top of the handle in a position to be operated by a finger of thehand with which the handle is grasped.

2. A fruit picker comprising a vessel having an upright handle attachedto the side and spaced therefrom for the passage of the hand, a fruitclipper secured directly to the top of said vessel and located in aposition to permit of the fruit dropping into the vessel as it is cutoff, and a thumb-actuated lever fulcrumed to the vessel independently ofand operatively connected to the clipper and arranged at a point overthe top of the handle to be operated by the thumb of the hand with whichthe handle is grasped.

3. A fruit picker comprising a vessel to receive the fruit, shearscarried by the vessel having blades pivoted together to clip the fruitand movable in a plane approximately transverse to and over the vessel,and a thumb-actuated lever fulcrumed to the vessel near the top thereofand operatively connected to both of the blades of the shears to swingthe blades together when the lever is depressed.

4. A fruit picker comprising a vessel to receive the fruit, a pair ofshears to clip the fruit, arranged over and connected to the vessel, anoperating lever fulcrumed to the vessel, and a spring fork having itsarms rigidly connected and operatively connecting the lever to theblades of the shears and normally tending to force the blades of theshears apart.

5. A fruit picker comprising a Vessel having a flaring throat arrangedat the top adjacent to one side, shears for severing the fruit, arrangedover the throat and connected to the vessel, a handle attached to theside of the vessel, and a thumb-actuated lever fulcrumed to the vesseland arranged over and directly operative from the handle and operativelyconnected to the blades of the shears.

6. A fruit picker comprising a vessel having a flaring throat at thetop, a handle attached to the side of the vessel, shears to sever thefruit secured to the top of the vessel, having blades pivoted togetherand arranged over the throat, and a bell-crank operating lever fulcrumedto the vessel, having one arm extended over and directly operative fromthe handle and the other arm operatively connected to both of the bladesof the shears.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANTHONY J. PETERTYL.

\Vitnesses ETI-IEL McEvoY, MALCOLM lVINNlE.

